


An encounter with a monster

by memgril



Category: Undertale
Genre: Body Dismorphia, Complete, Completed, Friendship, Gen, Oneshot, Post-Pacifist, Racism, Reader Is Not Frisk, Socially Awkward Reader, Swearing, mentions alphys, mentions of depression, mentions papyrus - Freeform, reader open for interpretation, shy reader, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-06 18:19:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11606271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memgril/pseuds/memgril
Summary: “Hey, punk! Your form is wrong!”You winced when you heard the harsh voice, glad that it wasn’t directed to you. When you felt the person move in your direction, you ducked your head and quietly did the rest of your reps, trying to maintain your form for as long as possible. You held you breath when they were almost behind you.“Oh, now you think you can ignore me, huh, punk?”Oh shit oh shit oh shit.





	An encounter with a monster

**Author's Note:**

> feedback appreciated!

“Hey, punk! Your form is wrong!” 

You winced when you heard the harsh voice, glad that it wasn’t directed to you. When you felt the person move in your direction, you ducked your head and quietly did the rest of your reps, trying to maintain your form for as long as possible. You held you breath when they were almost behind you. 

“Oh, now you think you can ignore me, huh, _punk_?” 

Oh shit oh shit oh shit. 

They were talking to _you_. 

You felt sweat roll down your face. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. You stood up, untangled yourself from the machine, and turned to face the gym rat that apparently _really_ wanted to correct your form. If you hurt yourself then it’s on you, so why do they even bother? Everyone usually minded their own business and didn’t give a fuck about anyone else. 

A huge yellow eye stared you down; you tried not to look at the black eyepatch that covered the other. In fact, you tried not to stare at all. Nope, you’re totally not looking at her sharp teeth or her fiery red hair or her blue skin. Never mind the fact that she was a fish. You totally see stuff like that every day. Totally. 

“S-sorry?” you stammered, flushing even more. You looked down at your feet, frowning at how... _large_ your thighs looked. Sure, yoga leggings were supposed to be a snug fit, but to you, they felt suffocating. Your stomach wasn’t any better either. You could only suck in for so long before you had to face the harsh truth. You heard her sigh and _felt_ her eye roll, but you were determined to not let her bring your mood down. You had finally mustered the courage to go to the gym, but now, you were not so sure anymore. You were not sure on a lot of things. 

“Look. This is how you do it.” You could have sworn that her voice softened. Great. She pitied you. That was exactly what you needed. Pity from a fish monster who was obviously born to be athletic and fit and agile and lean and… 

You jerked when you felt a slightly slimy and webbed hand grab your arm, tugging you in her direction. You unsuccessfully tried to glare at her. You didn’t have a mean bone in your body, so of course that didn’t work. If she was a door, you were the doormat. Scratch that, you were the dirt under the doormat. Wow, you were sure going all out with the whole emo act; first pretending to be an angsty teenager and then waxing poetic about your struggles? You should have became a comedian. 

The monster let go of you. Rubbing the back of her neck, you saw a faint blush color her own cheeks. You tried not to focus on the way her biceps and triceps flexed as she moved her arm. “Relax. Just remember to keep your knees bent and your back straight. No need to cry, sheesh.” 

Your eyes widened. That was just lovely. You tried to glare at her and she thought that you were going to cry…. She must think that you’re such a weakling. Of course, you could never be as strong and as confident as her. 

Suddenly you were tugged again. You found yourself staring at the machine, dread piling at your gut. Did she really expect you to do it _in front of her_? The look on her face said it all. Shakily, you reached out and grabbed the grips, your knuckles turning white. Your body was stiff under her observant gaze. You felt her analyzing everything. How ironic; nitpicking your body should feel natural by now.

“I-is that o-okay?” You didn’t know you had it in you to speak again. The monster, though, seemed to get _brighter_. You subtly moved away from her when you saw how wide her smile stretched. You should ask her about the toothpaste that she used; her teeth were _glistening_. 

“Much better, punk!” She grabbed you again, ignoring the way your shoulders shook, and you found your head placed under her armpit. A knuckle was roughly rubbed on your scalp. You winced. Was she really giving you a _noogie_? 

“T-thank you,” you said, berating yourself when you heard your voice shaking. If you couldn’t be mean then you’d try being nice. Besides, nice was more of your thing. Well, if you were being honest with yourself, being nothing was more of your thing. That actually felt nice. Being nothing. Being numb. 

She flashed you another toothy grin. “I’m glad people like you are actually going out and trying to better themselves. Better than staying inside and doing nothing. Hah!” 

“Um, y-yeah.” You _really_ didn’t want to be on the bad side of this monster. Keeping your mouth shut was something you were sadly very used to doing. 

“Oh yeah; I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Undyne,” she struck a pose and flexed. You politely laughed. You _did_ find it amusing but you had the feeling that she was a person who did everything to the extreme. Your laughter died when she looked at you. Right, you were also supposed to introduce yourself as well. 

“I-it’s nice to m-meet you, U-undyne,” you managed, “I-i’m ______.” You were glad you didn’t mess up saying your own name. You were humiliated enough today. 

Undyne was about to say something when you felt _another_ large person behind you. You slowly turned around. It felt like something from a horror movie, only now you were trying to run away from a human. You weren’t sure if said human was the one that was _currently in front of you_ or yourself.

This human was a little...plump for her height. You saw sweat leaking from her pores and wrinkled your nose at the smell that assaulted your nose. She had one of the newest smartphones on the market in one hand and a half-eaten bagel in another. Both items were dwarfed by her massive hands. You felt jealous when you saw her phone beeping and vibrating, but you reminded yourself that you weren’t a very outgoing person. It was better that way. 

“This fish is obviously out of its element, dear,” the fat lady said, her nasally voice reminding you of a pig. You felt nothing but disgust for these kinds of _humans_ , if you could even call them that. Turns out you were indeed running away from a _monster_. 

“Excuse you?” Undyne demanded hotly. You could feel sparks radiating from her body. Was that magic? Your eyes widened. Offensive magic was not allowed to be used on _anyone_ , humans especially. The government would have a field day if word got out. You had to do something. 

“W-wait, Undyne!” you quickly said. “We c-can leave.” You were actually feeling quite proud of yourself for saying something. It seemed like Undyne’s energy rubbed off on you. 

“Honey, you can stay,” the human started, taking a bite out of her bagel and loudly chewing it. You were quickly losing your patience with this _whale_. It seemed like Undyne was as well, because she went in front of you and stared down the woman. 

Undyne was interrupted yet _again_ by someone. A monster this time. A seahorse? Merhorse? Half horse and half mermaid? Either way, this monster wedged their way in, flashing you a winning smile that seemed to _flex_ at you. 

“Excuse me, ; )” they said, and you didn’t really know how to react. They kept on flexing the whole time, and you swore that they winked when they were speaking. “Is there something going…. on ; )?” 

Undyne seemed to annoyed and grateful at the same time. “Aaron! Yes, there is! This little punk,” she turned and glared at the fat lady, who seemed prepared to fire off another comment, “is harassing me and _____!” 

“Ooh, I see, ; )” Aaron replied. “Will I have to call the police? ; )” He seemed to flex hard and you thought that it was his own way of thinking. It was obvious that he lived in the gym. You thought you saw the muscles _on top_ of his main muscles flexing as well. Wow. How much testosterone did he have? Did he even produce it? How did he maintain his muscle mass? Well, you had time to ask those questions later. 

“And who do you think _you_ are, waltzing in here like you own the place?” You previously didn’t think anyone could become redder that you, but you learn something new very day. All the blood in that woman’s body probably rushed to her face. Most likely to support her gigantic nose, you snickered to yourself. Undyne looked at you strangely. 

Aaron seemed to flex smugly. “Why, in fact, I _do_ own this place. ; )” He pointed to the wall where there were images of him cutting a velvet rope. You could barely make out the sign that was placed above the gym. You saw a few newspaper clippings as well. You squinted at one of the frames, _NEW MONSTER GYM OFFERS NOTHING BUT MONSTER WORKOUTS, HUMANS WELCOMED_ , one read. You felt an eyebrow raise at one titled _GET FIT, THE MONSTER WAY!_ Wow. You never really noticed the people and monsters that came here. 

The fat woman snarled at Aaron and Undyne then turned to you. “And why are you hanging out with _monsters_? Are your fellow _humans_ not good enough for you?” 

“ _Leave_ ,” Undyne warned, her eye narrowing dangerously. Aaron flexed threateningly at her. 

“Ugh, whatever,” the fat lady rolled her eyes, “This place smells like vomit anyways.” She huffed and harrumphed on her long and arduous waddle to the exit. After a moment of silence, Undyne turned to Aaron and they...chest bumped? With a cheer, she moved to slap your back with enough force to lift that fat lady. Aaron winked and flexed at you. 

“Gotta go hit the weights, ; )” he said, er, flexed, “but you can hit me anytime ; )” With that, he seemed to float away. You didn’t even know where to start processing what had just happened. Luckily, Undyne had it covered. 

“Well, that happened,” she chortled. “That was the funniest thing ever.” Her laughs grew and grew until even you couldn’t keep a straight face anymore and started to laugh as well. Soon, you were both leaning on each other, lightly hitting each other’s backs. You caught the eye of another human and immediately sobered up. Brushing invisible lint from your shoulders, you turned to Undyne. You didn’t notice the small crowd that had started to gather. 

“Y-yeah,” you said, smiling a little bit. “I-I guess I’m going to go now?” It seemed more like a question than a statement, even though you _really_ wanted to leave. In fact, you wanted to leave the second you stepped into this gym. You recall how determined you were when you convinced yourself to leave your cold apartment. What happened to that? 

To your surprise, (or not), Undyne laughed again and seemed to _fish_ out something from her back pocket. “You’re such a nerd, nerd.” She let out a low whistle when she looked at her phone. “Sorry, nerd, but I have to run. Give me your phone number?” 

You weren’t very comfortable with giving a stranger your contact information, so you smiled lightly, saying, “Sorry, d-don’t have m-my p-phone on m-m-me.” You were such a _terrible_ liar. You knew you couldn’t fool Undyne, but you let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding when she slowly nodded.

“Whatever, nerd. I come to this gym a lot, and now you will too,” she grinned again and you started to become fond of it. It was nicer looking than her scowl. Wait… 

“C-come t-to the g-gym?” you questioned, well, _squeaked_ , your ever-present blush reminding you that, hello, it’s been there this whole time and it’s angry that it hasn’t been given nearly enough attention. 

“Duh,” she said. “Hey, if it makes you feel better, I can bring a friend along as well?” Was she teasing you or what? Again, you were reminded that you were basically strangers with her. You knew nothing about her except for her name and a little bit of her personality. 

Besides, it was one of your ‘goals’ to meet new people and make new friends. That was a big reason as to why you moved away from your hometown, family, and childhood friends, thrusting yourself right into the big city with a job application in one hand and a cup of terrible coffee in the other. It was tough sometimes but you were a survivor. You were determined. Besides, what was the harm in spending a few hours a week inside a gym with _friends_? 

“S-sure.” When you saw her grin again you almost started to regret your decision. 

“Great!” You were _not_ prepared to be noogied again, but you took it as gracefully as you could. At least she wouldn’t hurt you… much. “We’re going to have so much fun turning you into a huge muscle,” she grinned at you. You tried not to compare your fat thighs to her own toned ones.

Her phone rang and you were shocked to hear a Japanese girl signing at what seemed to be the highest volume possible. You saw her...blush for some reason and pick up the phone, eagerly speaking with the other person. 

“Alphy! You’re off early! I was just about to leave Aaron’s gym… oh, really? Man, that’s so _awesome_! I’ll see you at home? Okay. Yeah, I know, I’ll stay safe. Love you too!” 

You did _not_ expect Undyne to be such a romantic, but what could you say? You were the biggest hypocrite when it came to these things. Letting out a bitter laugh, you turned to Undyne, asking her about her mystery lover. 

“Who, that? That’s Alphys, the Royal Scientist,” Undyne leaned in, whispering, her smile softening with affection, “she’s also the cutest and most adorable nerd and my girlfriend.” You could almost see hearts dancing in her eyes. Ah, love. You couldn’t remember what it felt like. 

You smiled, “W-well, I w-wouldn’t want t-to keep you f-from seeing her.” With that, you turned, swiftly packing up your items, going for the same exit that the fat lady went through. You frowned when you thought of her, shaking your head to dispel the thoughts. No need for that now. 

“Hold up, nerd!” Undyne effortlessly ran up to you. “We need to plan our next hangout!” You couldn’t say no to her. Her energy _did_ rub off on you after all. “Man, Papyrus is going to _love_ this!” 

When you figured out the dates, you quickly exited without looking back, starting to feel claustrophobic. You needed a breath of fresh air and a nice, hot bath, preferably with a book. Yeah, that sounded really nice. You decided to stop by the nearest body store and bought a few scented candles.

You could do nice, for now.


End file.
